Grand Canyon March 25-27

We left Verde Valley, AZ for Williams, AZ to put us within and hour's drive of the Grand Canyon.





During the next 2 days we visited the various vistas around the South rim. I saw the Grand Canyon when I was 17 while Lee on the other hand has never seen it. I wish I had been able to capture the expression on Lee's face as he first beheld the majesty of it.







We walked one of the trails part way into the canyon. Bright Angel trail down to the base of the canyon and the Colorado River is 18 miles round trip. If we had had more time we would have enjoyed doing this. Nicky went with us the first day and we walked his legs off. We got back to the camper and as soon as he had dinner he was out like a light.

The immensity of it is hard to take in. As you walk around the rim the colors and configuration of the rock varies.

Doesn't it look like it goes on forever?

I hope all the grandchildren get to see this someday.

This is the trail going down into the Canyon.

We met this little guy along the rim trail.

I got some of my Christmas shopping done in the Hopi gift shop. Most of our time was spent seeing as much as we could of the canyon in the two days we had there.

Verde Valley and Sedona AZ

The drive from Las Cruces,NM to Tucson, AZ was beautiful. We stayed one night in Tucson and then left for Verde Valley, AZ. The drive there was breath-taking.

While in Verde Valley we spent days driving all over Sedona. Definitely one of the most beautiful sites I've ever seen.










Pictures cannot do it justice. This truly is something that must be observed with the naked eye.

















































We visited Jerome, this precariously perched "city in the sky", was one of most famous copper mining camps in the country. Today Jerome boasts a renowned art community with several switchbacks worth of shop, restaurants, and galleries.








Next day we visited Montezuma's castle. This ruin was home to the Sinaqua indians who farmed at the base of the tall structure.












We also visited Montezuma well. The well is an immense sink hole that provided water to the Sinaqua.










Another outing was Tuzigoot National Monument,a prehistoric pueblo built by the Sinaqua Indians.












We visited property owned by our good friends, Leon and Francine. We pray that one day they will be able to build on this beautiful setting.











On one of our driving tours around Sedona we visited the "Chapel of the Holy Cross". Yes that is a chapel up there and the view from it is incredible.










That same day we stopped for lunch at Tlpquepaque Village. A lovely place with many very unique shoppes. We had a lovely lunch at one of the Mexican restaurants within the village.









There's much to see within this general area and not near enough time to do it all. Guess we'll have to do it again!!!

Nicky and I thoroughly enjoyed hiking the many trails at the campground.

Las Cruces March 13 -15

Are you looking at this?? This is the view from our camper here in Vado, near Las Cruces. That field out there is where I walk Nicky. No picture can truly capture what we are looking at.










The first picture showed what we look at out our front window and this is what we look at out the back.











These are some of the mountains we came through on our way here. A spectacular drive here from Carlsbad the entire trip was beautiful.

We used our time here to catch up on bills, correspondence, laundry and Lee changed the oil on the rig.

This is our last stop in New Mexico.

Sitting Bull Falls March 11

What a beautiful sight!! On our way to the falls we passed lots of open pasture and cattle roaming freely everywhere. Nicky particularly loved seeing these guys up close and personal!!

Today we went to the "Sitting Bull Falls" located in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. They are the second largest falls in New Mexico. We were just so surprised to see water after looking at stream after stream all dried up.

The flowers are just beginning to bloom.

This is the entrance to the park where the falls are located and a very nice picnic area. The picnic tables are in the rock enclosure.

Lincoin National Forest March 11

The next day we took a car tour of the 5 point vista in Lincoln National Forest. There were 5 vista points and the views were breathtaking.


Don't you just love that lone cactus.

Who says there's no open spaces left??

Carlsbad Caverns March 11

The drive here was beautiful. We drove through incredible mountains and arrived at the campground only to find that our RV would be facing one of these mountain ranges. What a view!! You just sit there watching the mountains and the effect of the setting sun on them..

While here we toured the Carlsbad Caverns . We came out after 2 1/2 hours totally awestruck. The caverns are 31.9 miles long and 75 stories deep.

This is the natural entrance to the cave. At night thousands and thousands of bats take off from here.

Texas Hills March 9 & 10

We left Medina Lake for Stockton, TX. The drive was actually interesting --it was either very flat for miles or we were going through rock mountains.

There are beautiful flowers throughout the flats.

Can' get much flater than that can it?

Then you would move out of the flat land into something like this.

There were lots of windmills on the hills and below them you would see the oil drilling rigs. We saw cattle out on the flats and wondered where they got water -- it seems like all streams are dried up.

Stockton was dry, windy, and dusty --a good place to spend just one night!!

Lake Medina,TX Feb. 4-Feb. 8

Pictured below is beautiful Lake Medina taken from the hills surrounding the lake. The sunset was taken right from our camper where night after night we get to watch an incredible sunset.

We ran into Bob Shirley and Julie our first day here. We have enjoyed playing Pickle Ball with them each morning and their friend Mark. The second day here we did a car tour of the hill country with Bob and Julie and 2 other couples. Beautiful scenery and charming western towns along the way. We stopped in the town on Bandera and did some shopping and had some lunch. This is where I found the perfect cowgirl hat!

Town of Bandera

San Antonio

Next day Lee and I took off for San Antonio. We've done the river walk before but enjoyed it even more this time because the crowds were lighter and it was cooler. This the kind of place where one can go crazy taking pictures because it is all so charming and picturesque. In reality no amount of film can capture it -- you must go there and experience it first hand. We had a lovely lunch on the balcony of a sidewalk restaurant. Lee found a cowboy hat that he liked so now we're really ready to head west because we have the proper head gear!!

Colorado River, TX Feb. 28-March 3,2009

What a lovely park! Trees are just beginning to bud now but the groves of Pecan trees seem to be the last to get their leaves. One can only imagine how beautiful this will be in another couple of weeks.





Our RV is facing the Colorado River . Quite a nice view. It was extremely gusty our first 2 days here. Last night it got down to 33 but by late afternoon I was sitting outside in a tank top and shorts---go figure and finally NO WIND!! It's a very beautiful large piece of property and finding a place to walk my 5 miles has been easy and very scenic.










There are hundreds of deer here and at dusk they wander all through the campground. It's driving Nicky nuts!!! this picture is taken from just outside my camper door.

























We toured the Blue Bell Creamery in Breham, TX. It's got to be the world's best ice cream. It tastes like it's just come out of the ice cream churn. It's sold in 17 states in all --mostly the southern states. Nicky enjoyed his sample along with the rest of us and he gave it a definite thumbs up!!









One of the highlights here has been Peter's BBQ, which we were told about as soon as we pulled in. The place is not much to look at but BBQ ribs, 3 sides, dessert, and a drink for $4.95 ---just can't afford not to do that!!!!! We've only been here 4 days and we've had 2 rib dinners and the Sunday buffet. It's a good thing we're leaving tomorrow!!!! This restaurant is right up there with the Pioneer Restaurant for value for the money.